I've toyed with RPGM1 for years, but it took a while for me to grasp the inner workings of the game system. I have made attempts at serious projects in the past, but because I planned the details around so much misunderstanding of the system, these projects never fell through. Now that I have a better understanding of the limitations I'm working with, I'm ready to give it another shot. I even went out and bought a DexDrive so I could share my project with RPGM communities. I didn't actually realize there were active communities for RPGM1 in this day and age, but now that I've stumbled upon RPGM Mag, I feel inspired to dedicate some serious time and energy to seeing this through.

Before I get too far into development this time, I wanted to pitch some of the background and design elements I had in mind. Maybe I can get some feedback and aim the project in a direction that everybody would be satisfied with. If the consensus is that too many of my ideas and design elements would be tedious for someone to play through, I could use that feedback to try and compromise in order to produce a more enjoyable game. It would be kind of pointless to release something that would only be an insufferable experience, after all.

Creatively, I really like the ideas that went into the SaGa games. (e.g. Romancing SaGa, SaGa Frontier, and so forth) These games were typically scenario-based, and very open-ended. You would pick a character, be dropped in some location with just a little background info, then given the freedom to explore the world at your leisure. Some people complained that the games were a little too open-ended, to the point where you could walk just a few steps from the starting point and end up in a deadly wilderness full of high-level monsters. Lots of discretion and interaction with NPCs was necessary to get an idea of where you shouldn't be wandering. I want to incorporate a lot of this into my project, as well - maybe even to the same extreme. Of course, NPCs would clearly warn against venturing into specific wilderness areas without being prepared. If the player just rushes off without asking random townspeople for clues, then they'll meet an abrupt fate at the hands of very brutal enemies in seemingly-innocent-nondescript-wilderness-of-doom.

Another detail would be how to approach the experience and ability systems. I like games where attributes are increased as a result of putting them into direct application, or through the use of consumable items. (e.g. food) With the limitations of RPGM1 in mind, the latter seems feasible. Since there will be various kinds of character classes, some characters will increase their attributes differently. For instance, there will be a class of characters based on robots. When the party defeats robotic monsters, they may drop parts. By "consuming" (rather, installing) these parts, a robotic character can increase their attributes. This will also account for how abilities are learned. A human character might purchase and read a spell book in order to learn a new spell, while a monster character would eat the meat of other monsters to learn enemy skills.

Next, I want to try an equipment crafting system. This should be easy to do with RPGM1 events. When characters find components such as alloy, chunks of ore, blade hilts, etc., they can trade them to blacksmiths and pay a fee to have a piece of equipment made. There would be a finite number of possibilities, and only specific blacksmiths would offer to make specific items. (e.g. one blacksmith may only be able to forge steel weapons and armor) Magical items would require rarer components, and the only blacksmiths who could forge them might be difficult to find. To make things a little less tedious, the player could still find complete pieces of equipment in treasure chests, or have them dropped by enemies.

Instead of enemies appearing in random encounters, they're scattered across the world as respawning events. As you explore dungeons and wilderness areas, you'll notice enemy sprites littered all over the map; walk up to one, and you'll be thrust into an encounter. Often times, enemy events will guard exits, treasure chests and other crucial passages. This is something akin to Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest. Why? I hate random encounters. They just make exploration seem more tedious than it should be. If you use some discretion, you might notice a path that isn't blocked by enemies, allowing you to pass through an area without having to deal with any encounters at all. This should also offset the risks of wandering into random and deadly areas of wilderness too early into the game.

Finally, lots of randomization. I want to create several different dungeon floors per dungeon, but have the exit points lead the player across a fairly random floor order. The contents of chests would be somewhat randomized, but the possible outcomes would be balanced. (very rare or powerful items wouldn't be among the possible treasures in less challenging dungeons) These chests would respawn the next time the player entered the dungeon, allowing them to farm items from the dungeon as much as they wanted. Dungeon floors that contain important events (such as bosses, or plot-related cutscenes) would have static content - a boss could only be defeated once, and a key item or incredibly rare piece of treasure would not respawn.

I have many old ideas I could use for the plot, but I haven't decided on which direction to go yet. Since this is an adventure where you pick your own character classes, the characters themselves don't really have any background. I'm not sure to what degree they'll be participating in interaction with NPCs, or if any personal details about their own lives will function to advance the plot. I think I'll probably go in the direction of political intrigue. The characters will be the elected four who oppose some tyrant who destroyed their unnamed village, and this tyrant will take most of the spotlight in terms of what is going to be transpiring during cutscenes. The plot would have to delve into the tyrant's motives and dealings on a fairly constant basis. The plot might be advanced by one big fetch quest involving items recovered from various dungeons, such as items that represent the elemental forces, or a collection of sealed weapons - magical weapons that are the only things capable of harming this tyrant. Of course, I could just go another direction entirely...

Well... Any thoughts, suggestions?

Sounds kinda like "Might & Magic VI". The game-play elements, not the story with the tyrant.

Might want to do some research at GameFAQs looking over the FAQs for that game. Or get the game and try it out. Might provide some new ideas or help with existing ones.

"Might & Magic VI" had an epic sized world to explore, but it was also Side Quest City. A good chunk of the game was fetching stuff or rescuing NPCs who have nothing to do with the player's ultimate goal. But I did all of that stuff because it gives out experience and other rewards. The early game is very unfocused there. You're just kinda placed in front of this town, and you do a few quests and beat up the local riff raff for experience and stuff. Later when the game's goals are made clear, it's mostly a matter of swathing your way through the various regions, grinding to get more points to spend on attributes, and sloshing your way through one ridiculously large dungeon and after another.

I'm not knocking that game. It was quite fantastic. But in hindsight it kind of brings a conundrum to mind: How do you balance an expansive world of exploration with a focused set of game goals? On the one hand, an open-ended world to explore has its appeal. "I can go anywhere! And do anything!" On the other side of that coin, "Umm... what's happening? Where do I need to go next? Why am I even here?" Definitely a type of game that you should play for the enjoyment of playing a game and accumulating stuff, not necessarily for an engrossing story or any kind of drama.

As far as releasing a game that people are going to like... I wouldn't try too hard there. In my experience, I have never seen a group of gamers with such special gaming needs as I encountered in the RPG Maker community. I've heard such nonsensical stuff from players, it made my brain hurt. Stuff like, "I hate random encounters, but I also don't like what you did [in your game that doesn't have random encounters]." What I'm saying is that some people are just impossible to please. It probably won't matter what kind of stuff you put in your game. Someone will probably be there who can't suffer through your CBS or some other game element you created. Just make sure there's something there that's gonna be enjoyable for you to play, otherwise playtesting might become a chore.

Those are my humble thoughts.

I'll have to research that game. I've heard of the Might & Magic series, but I'm afraid the only game I've played is Crusaders.



From what I've played, it usually seems to be handled by a fetch quest where the advancement of the plot requires that several key items of mutual importance are found. Let's say, for instance, the objective is to gather gems or crystals that are related to some sort of spell or ritual that defeats the antagonist. Since every one of these items need to be held in order to accomplish this, the player can be allowed to explore all regions of the world from the get-go, grabbing these items in any preferred order. The NPCs found in these regions would hint about the respective locations of these items. The player need only be given the direction of, "A set of items is necessary to defeat evil. One can be found in each region. Once all are gathered, face your opponent."

The plot doesn't have to be that stagnant, though. When the player collects certain key items, (or X number of key items) this could prompt the game to trigger a cutscene where, for example, the antagonist wages war against another kingdom, destroying or severely damaging it. These events wouldn't necessarily remove anything important from the game world, or otherwise create barriers to the player's ability to advance. Such events could also be triggered when the player enters a new region for the first time.

Sorry for the double post. I actually thought of a few ideas for the plot. I'm recycling some older material of mine, but it's otherwise an original story for this specific project. The first few paragraphs outline backstory and set the stage for exploring dungeons and gathering key items. The later paragraphs outline events that occur through various cutscenes after these artifacts are gathered, setting the stage for the final dungeon and final encounter.

--

The story centers on two kingdoms - Damascus and Arcania. Damascus is renowned for its powerful steel and military strength. Swords and plates of armor forged with Damascus steel are highly-sought due the steel's innate ability to absorb and nullify magic. The people of Damascus pride themselves on their independence from the arcane, having abolished and outlawed all forms of magic within their nation; Arcania, on the other hand, is a kingdom governed by a magocracy. Having little in the way of military power, the Arcanians instead focus their attention on the study of ancient arcana.

Rumor had it that the Arcanians had recently unearthed a set of artifacts left behind by the gods themselves. These artifacts could hold the power to shape the very fabric of reality, and thus render Damascus and its military power ineffectual. Fearing the implications of this, Lord Damascus declared a proclamation of war against Arcania, demanding it surrender the artifacts to the Damascene people. The Arcanians refused, believing Damascus to be misguided in its distrust of other nations.

As the war waged on, Arcania was reduced to ruin, and the artifacts were captured by Damascene generals and sealed within well-guarded tombs and dungeons scattered across every region of the world. Lord Damascus went on to establish a permanent occupation of Arcania, declaring that every last member of the Arcanian bloodline be put to death; and so, a once lustrous kingdom met its tragic end.

In a desperate outcry against the occupation, a surviving councilman solicits the help of four adventurers to seek out the artifacts and unify them in hopes of vanquishing the Damascene forces for good. Should they fail, it may not be long before Lord Damascus sets his sights on the rest of the world...

- [after gathering each artifact from the game's dungeons]

The party of adventurers is successful in recovering the sealed artifacts. In unifying them against Damascene forces, the core of the Damascene army - its renowned steel - is utterly destroyed. Unwilling to concede his defeat, Lord Damascus retires to his chambers and begins plotting his revenge. Suddenly, a spirit manifests before him, introducing itself as a member of a demonic syndicate known as "The Dominion." Realizing Damascus' desperation, it offers a bargain - the Dominion would destroy the Arcanian's resistance faction in exchange for Damascus' immortal soul, whose hatred is powerful enough to nourish the demons for many centuries. Maddened by his desire to rid the world of arcana, Lord Damascus agrees, despite knowing the Dominion would employ the power of arcana itself to achieve this end.

The Dominion lays waste to Arcanian survivors and their factions, and Damascus is dragged into the depths of Hell per contract. Our four adventurers make efforts to help Arcanian civilization rebuild after counting many losses, but they're interrupted as a new threat suddenly arises - Lord Damascus, now the ruler of the underworld, returns to the mortal realm. Rather than allowing his soul to be devoured by demons, Damascus had gradually fought his way through the legions of Hell, ultimately ascending to its throne. Empowered and bent on vengeance, he leads the very same legions into the mortal realm, declaring demonic supremacy and a threat of genocide against every mortal nation.

- [the final dungeon appears on the world map]

Our heroes are faced with one final quest. Unable to destroy the now deified Damascus, they must use the power of the artifacts to rip open a portal to the void, banishing Damascus to an eternal purgatory.

--

There is actually a moral to the story - racism and prejudice are self-destructive. Lord Damascus was unduly paranoid about the Arcanians and the responsibility of arcana. When all was said and done and his forces were overpowered, he reacted by reaffirming his prejudice further, rather than embracing reason and putting an end to all the senseless conflict. That, at least, is my experience when it comes to people in real-life. No matter how you try to reason that a belief or paranoia about some group is unreasonable and prejudice is unjustified, they only reaffirm their prejudice further. It's a psychological phenomenon called reactance. If a person feels that some kind of behavioral freedom is being threatened, (even their right to hold prejudiced views) they'll only strengthen that behavior / viewpoint out of spite. Damascus represents the absolute extreme of this.

Since I've plagiarized the SaGa series so much, why not simply turn this into a fan sequel? I think I'll dub the project...

悲願の闇王 Ｓａ・Ｇａ４
Higan no Yami-ō ("Ardent Ambitions of the Dark King")